BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Hot & Spicy Food Cost of Food in 1941 WOW!

I was just reading a booklet I plan to give away <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> It shows that in 1941 eggs were 20 cents a dozen, bacon was 42 cents a pound, bread was 8 cents a loaf?? and ground coffee was 45 cents a pound. That seems unreal--I wonder what the average salary was?

Oh yeh. Gas was 12 cents per gallon! How that has changed <img src="/images/graemlins/beamedup.gif" alt="" />

Hello Vannie. I was born in 1940 and I do have a view of the cost of groceries. You must remember that during the days of WW2 ther was rationing in America. The ability to buy any milk, bread, butter, eggs or meat was severly limited except for black market buying. In the late 40's and early 50's you could fill a car full of groceries that would feed a family of 5 for 2 weeks or more for about $25-$30. There was no such thing as "convience" foods and all meals, cakes, pies, etc. was prepared from scratch.
the saying "a chicken in every pot" was no idle phrase, even in the 40's a chicken cost a lot and beef was cheap.

One thing I might add Vannie is that Gasoline was going for about 10 cents a gallon in the 60's. This was true especilly when a gas war was in progress. One thing I might add is that people who have no problem with paying $20-$30 for a 1/2 gal. of booze, complain when they have to pay $2.50 for a gallon of gas. Perspective.

I had to peek at your topic...I would never visit the hot and spicy as I have acid reflux! I do miss hot and spicy foods so much. I was curious as to the average salary and came up with this info:

Car: $1,250
Gasoline: 21 cents/gal
House: $10,000
Bread: 9 cents/loaf
Milk: 62 cents/gal
Postage Stamp: 3 cents
Stock Market: 152
Average Annual Salary: $2,900
Minimum Wage: 40 cents per hour

conniem. During the 40's gasoline was also rarioned and you could only buy a couple of gallons per week. There was also a shortage of "new" cars because all production of vehicles was aimed toward the military (tanks,jeeps,ships and munitions). Yes, you could get extra milk, if you had children in the household. Milk by the 1/2gal. and full gallon are only a recent development the only thing we had were those quart bottles; even a non-glass container is a recent innovation. Butter was a luxury and a spread for bread or toast was made by mixing a yellow colorant into a substance like Crisco or Lard. BTW, new tires for cars were non-existant so, you made do with what you had.
I did visit Oklahoma and I hope that the State as a vacation place remains a secret for a long time. Too many visitors would ruin this great State.

Where in Oklahoma did you visit? I live in the Cherokee Outlet area. The last & greatest land run was held here. Over 100,000 settlers raced to claim their piece of 7 million acres of land here in 1893. The land run had become way too dangerous as a form of land distribution and so lotteries and auctions became the form of determining land ownership. What a sight it would have been to see.

I visited Lawton, Altus, Magnum and the Wichita Mountains plus many small towns around the areas. Very nice people in Oklahoma but I wonder about homes that have Tornado shelters in the backyard.

We have a nice big basement under our house...it makes me feel safe. This below is from our museum site...why most of us have tornado shelters!

"The most deadly tornado to ever strike within the borders of the state of Oklahoma occurred on Wednesday, April 9, 1947 in the city of Woodward. The Woodward tornadic storm began in the Texas Panhandle during the afternoon of April 9, 1947, and produced at least six tornadoes along a 220 mile path that stretched from White Deer, TX (northeast of Amarillo) to St. Leo, KS (west of Wichita).

The tornado that would strike Woodward began near Canadian, TX. Moving northeast, it continued on the ground continuously for about 100 miles, ending in Woods County, Oklahoma, west of Alva. The tornado was massive, up to 1.8 miles wide, and traveled at forward speeds of about 50 miles per hour. It first struck Glazier and Higgins in the Texas Panhandle, devastating both towns and producing at least 69 fatalities in Texas before crossing into Oklahoma. In Ellis County, Oklahoma, the tornado did not strike any towns, passing to the southeast of Shattuck, Gage, and Fargo. Even though no towns were struck, nearly 60 farms and ranches were destroyed and 8 people were killed with 42 more injured. Moving into Woodward County, one death was reported near Tangier.

The violent tornado (F5 on the Fujita Scale) unleashed its worst destruction on Woodward, striking the city without warning at 8:42 pm. Over 100 city blocks on the west and north sides of the city were destroyed with lesser damage in the southeast portion of the town. Confusion and fires reigned in the aftermath with over 1000 homes and businesses destroyed, at least 107 people killed in and around Woodward, and nearly 1000 additional injuries. Normal communications between Woodward and the outside world were not restored for some time and there was great uncertainty as to victim status. In fact, the bodies of three children were never identified, and one child who survived the tornado was lost and never reunited with her family. Help for Woodward came from many places, including units from as far away as Oklahoma City and Wichita. Beyond Woodward, the tornado lost some intensity, but still destroyed 36 homes and injured 30 people in Woods County before ending.

In all, at least 116 lives were lost in Oklahoma on that fateful night. Never before or since has a tornado been so costly to human life in the Sooner State. Because of the Woodward tornado and other devastating tornadoes in the late 1940's and early 1950's, and because of new technologies available after World War II, the Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service) began a tornado watch and warning program in 1953. During the last five decades, the warning system composed of the National Weather Service, local civil preparedness agencies, and the media has continued to mature and provide better and better information to citizens to help them protect themselves from tornadoes. Because of the strengths of the warning system, tornado death tolls in Oklahoma, and nationwide, have dropped considerably with each passing decade and, hopefully, will continue to decrease."

I liked the smoked meats that were served in Oklahoma, what a treat. I like North Carolina barbacue and make a quick hop down there to get a very good sandwich at least once a week. I do not know why people always associate hot with spicy. I do not like Cayanne but I do like McIlhenny hot sauce now and then. To me Cayanne is just hot and has no taste. Before there were refridgerators, spices were used to preserve foods. The Middle-East has many recipes for spicy foods and there is a wonderful marinade for meats that you will use on your next cookout. When my ship visited Spain, I would always pick up some Saffron. One time I came home with almos a 1/4 lb. of that stuff and it lasted for a long time. It is amazing how spicy you can make rice by adding a small bit of Saffron to it.

I had to think what kinds of food I would associate with Oklahoma. Locally we have a couple of great mexican food resturaunts and a new german one that opened. I have learned to cook some german foods from my husbands grandmother.

What kind of food would be associated with Oklahoma? Why, smoked meats of course! Not all meat has to be cooked over a fire and smoking does give it a very good flavor. I was almost expecting McDonalds, Burger King and Hardees to offer "Smoked burgers" but perhaps I was expecting too much.

Hmmm...smoked meats. I will have to tell the hubby. I had asked him what foods he associated with Oklahoma and he was stumped as well!

Bob, I never understood the "chicken in every pot" phrase because my mom seemed to have 101 ways to prepare chicken to feed my dad and six children, so I always figured beef was the good stuff. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Concerning convience foods, my mother seldom used them. So I don't either. My dad was a barber and a early barterer. If a man had many children who needed haircuts, they traded items or services. I remember my dad bringing home large bags of potatoes and onions or chickens or fish. Needless to say, we had lots of that.

V~

I love bbq that has been smoked a long time until it almost falls from the bone, nothing extra is really need. The smokey flavor makes it delicous. As much as I enjoy hot and spicy foods, for me there is nothing like smoked meats :-)

V~

vannie and conniem. If you like Hot, Spicy and Chicken try Curried Chicken. Curry comes in a variety of strengts, from mild to veeery hot. I think you can pick up the Curry Powder in an ethnic store. During the depression and after it there was a preperation called "City Chicken". A Google search will bring up many recepies. The City Chicken I remember kind of reminded me of a Shish-Kabob and was made from the cheapest cuts of meat that were available. I bet a few old timers like me remember this dish.

A local butcher sells "City Chicken." It is very good when slow cooked with gravy. I didn't know it's considered inexpensive. It's so much more expensive than chicken today.

Taisha
Southeast Asia

Hello Taisha. How things have changed! I can believe it when you say the "City Chicken" is more expensive today and it is more expensive even if you try to make them yourself but it is still a treat. BTW i still like Curry and it is a spice that Americans should know more about. One of the nice things about Curry is the aroma when you cook with it (who needs Airwick).

Oh, I love curried chicken. I have found a brand of curry powder that I really like, it is "Indi" brand. Every once in a while when I am looking for something in my fridge, I will open the package just to smell the wonderful spice mixture <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I have never heard of City Chicken but will see if I can find some recipes. I wonder why it is called City Chicken?

Vannie

Taisha,

It is interesting that you mention is very good with slow cooked. I remember that my mom used to start dinner early in the day and cook meats for hours. Although I never realized it then, all of the meats were always in some kind of sauce or gravy. My dad would only eat chicken the way you describe it--cooked slow in gravy.

Very sorry for not replying sooner vannie. I don't know where the name "City Chicken" orginated but perhaps it was because a "real" chicken was so darn expensive and this was an inexpensive replacement. Many people associate spicy and hot with the Southwest or South and Central America but I can assure this is not the case. There is the Curry of India and the Wasabi of the Far East and many hot and spicy foods from China. The main thing is to have a lot of fun trying the different types of spices and recepies from all over the world. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />